Data center infrastructure management is crucial for businesses striving to optimize their IT operations and physical facilities. In simple terms, it combines IT management, facility management, and automation into a singular, cohesive system. This convergence enables businesses to gain a holistic view of their entire data center, from computing resources like servers to non-computing elements such as cooling and power systems. By providing total visibility and control, DCIM helps businesses manage their resources efficiently, anticipate future needs, and reduce costs.
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As data centers grow more complex, investing in a robust DCIM system is no longer optional; it’s essential for staying competitive.
I’m Corin Dolan, and as the owner of AccuTech Communications with over 30 years of experience in the business communications sector, I have consulted on data center infrastructure management for numerous clients across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. This expertise ensures us to guide you through DCIM strategies custom to your specific business needs.
Data center infrastructure management (DCIM) is like the brain of your data center. It brings together IT infrastructure and building facilities into one smart system. Imagine having a control panel that lets you see everything going on in your data center, from the servers humming away to the cooling systems keeping everything from overheating.
At its core, DCIM is about making your data center run smoothly and efficiently. It combines IT management with facility management, giving you a complete picture of your data center’s operations. This means you can monitor, manage, and optimize all your resources from a single platform.
In a data center, IT and building facilities often seem like separate worlds. However, DCIM bridges this gap. It integrates the IT equipment, like servers and network switches, with the physical infrastructure, such as cooling systems and power distribution units (PDUs). This integration helps in understanding how each part affects the other, enabling better planning and management.
For instance, if a server is using too much power, it might affect the cooling system’s performance. DCIM tools can alert you to such issues, allowing you to make timely adjustments.
A challenge in managing a data center is energy consumption. Data centers are energy-hungry beasts. But with DCIM, you can tame this beast. The software measures and monitors energy usage across the facility. This includes tracking how much energy the IT equipment uses and how efficiently the cooling systems operate.
By analyzing this data, you can identify areas where energy is wasted and take steps to improve efficiency. This not only reduces costs but also supports sustainability goals, which is increasingly important in today’s world.
In summary, DCIM is a game-changer for data centers. It provides a unified view, integrates IT and facilities, and helps manage energy consumption effectively. For businesses in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, AccuTech Communications offers expert guidance in implementing DCIM solutions custom to specific needs. Whether you’re a small business or a large corporate campus, understanding and leveraging DCIM can significantly improve your data center’s performance.
A well-functioning data center is like a finely tuned orchestra, with each component playing its part to ensure harmony and efficiency. Let’s explore the essential elements that make up data center infrastructure.
Physical servers are the backbone of any data center. These machines handle the heavy lifting of processing data and running applications. Each server is equipped with CPUs, memory, storage, and network connections to perform its tasks efficiently.
In modern data centers, servers are often housed in racks. This arrangement maximizes space and allows for better airflow, which is crucial for cooling. The placement and management of these servers are vital for both performance and energy efficiency.
Networking equipment is like the circulatory system of a data center. It connects servers to each other and to the outside world. This includes routers, switches, and firewalls that manage data traffic flow and ensure secure communication.
One of the key functions of networking equipment is to minimize latency, which is the time it takes for data to travel from one point to another. Efficient network design and management are crucial to maintaining high performance and reliability.
Security is a top priority in any data center. Protecting the data and infrastructure from both physical and cyber threats is essential. Security measures can include:
Implementing robust security measures helps safeguard valuable data and ensures compliance with industry standards.
Storage solutions are the libraries of a data center, holding vast amounts of data that need to be accessed, processed, and stored securely. These can include:
Selecting the right storage solutions is crucial for optimizing performance and ensuring data availability. It’s important to balance speed, capacity, and cost when designing storage infrastructure.
Each of these components plays a critical role in the overall operation of a data center. By understanding and managing these elements effectively, businesses can ensure their data centers run smoothly, securely, and efficiently. This is where data center infrastructure management (DCIM) comes into play, offering tools and insights to optimize these components and drive performance.
Implementing data center infrastructure management (DCIM) can transform the way a business operates its data center. Let’s explore some of the major benefits: energy efficiency, asset management, threat detection, and cost reduction.
Energy efficiency is a top priority for data centers. DCIM plays a crucial role in optimizing energy usage. By monitoring power consumption and cooling systems, DCIM helps identify areas where energy can be saved. For example, DCIM enables data centers to track their Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), a key metric for understanding energy efficiency.
With real-time data, you can make informed decisions about when to turn off unused equipment or how to adjust cooling systems to save energy without compromising performance. This not only reduces energy costs but also supports sustainability goals.
Effective asset management is another significant benefit of DCIM. It provides a comprehensive view of all physical and virtual assets in the data center. This visibility allows for better tracking and management of equipment, from servers to networking devices.
With DCIM, data center managers can easily locate assets, understand their status, and plan for future needs. This leads to more efficient use of resources and reduces the risk of over-provisioning or under-utilization.
Security is a critical concern for any data center. DCIM improves threat detection by providing real-time monitoring and alerts. It can detect anomalies in data traffic or unusual access patterns, which may indicate potential security threats.
By integrating DCIM with security systems, data centers can respond quickly to incidents, minimizing potential damage. This proactive approach helps protect sensitive data and maintains compliance with industry regulations.
One of the most compelling benefits of DCIM is cost reduction. By improving energy efficiency, optimizing asset management, and enhancing security, DCIM helps reduce operational costs.
For instance, by using DCIM to monitor and manage power consumption, businesses can significantly cut down on energy bills. Additionally, efficient asset management reduces the need for unnecessary purchases, saving money on equipment and maintenance.
In summary, implementing DCIM brings a host of benefits that can transform data center operations. From energy savings to improved security and cost efficiency, DCIM is a powerful tool for modern data centers.
Next, let’s explore the top DCIM tools and software that make these benefits a reality.
When it comes to data center infrastructure management (DCIM), selecting the right tools and software is critical. These solutions help monitor, manage, and optimize your data center operations. Let’s explore some of the top tools and software that focus on monitoring, management, and energy tracking.
DCIM Monitoring Tools are essential for keeping an eye on every aspect of your data center. These tools provide a “single pane of glass” view, allowing you to monitor servers, storage, networking, and environmental conditions in real-time.
For instance, with DCIM software, you can remotely monitor rack power distribution units (PDUs), uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs), and temperature sensors. This remote access means you can check on your data center’s health from anywhere, reducing the need for on-site visits and saving time.
Management Solutions in DCIM help streamline operations by providing detailed insights into your data center’s infrastructure. These solutions offer features like asset tracking, capacity planning, and workflow management.
With these tools, data center managers can easily locate equipment, plan for future capacity needs, and manage changes efficiently. This results in better resource utilization and reduces the risk of downtime. As Andy Lawrence noted, “It is difficult to achieve advanced levels of data center maturity without extensive use of DCIM software.”
Energy Tracking is a standout feature of DCIM tools. By monitoring energy usage in real-time, these tools help data centers optimize their power consumption and cooling systems.
DCIM software often includes metrics like Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency (DCiE), which are crucial for understanding and improving energy efficiency. With this data, you can make informed decisions to reduce energy waste and lower operational costs.
Incorporating these tools into your data center operations can lead to significant improvements in efficiency and cost savings. They provide the insights needed to make smarter decisions about your infrastructure, ultimately changing the way your data center operates.
In the next section, we’ll answer some frequently asked questions about data center infrastructure management to further clarify its role and benefits.
Data center infrastructure management (DCIM) is the integration of IT and building facilities functions within an organization. It provides a holistic view of a data center’s performance, ensuring that energy, equipment, and physical space are used efficiently. DCIM software measures, monitors, and manages IT equipment and supporting infrastructure, allowing data center operators to run efficient operations and improve infrastructure design planning.
A data center’s infrastructure is composed of several vital components:
Each component plays a crucial role in the data center’s overall functionality and efficiency.
DCIM significantly improves energy efficiency by providing real-time insights into energy consumption. Here’s how it works:
As a result, DCIM helps data centers achieve better energy efficiency, which is crucial for both economic and environmental reasons.
In data center infrastructure management (DCIM), having a reliable partner can make all the difference. That’s where AccuTech Communications comes in. Based in Massachusetts, we have been a trusted provider of network cabling, business systems, and data center technologies since . Our focus has always been on delivering certified, reliable service at competitive prices.
Our expertise in data center technologies ensures that businesses in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island can operate their data centers efficiently and effectively. We understand the importance of energy efficiency, asset management, and cost reduction, and we’re here to help you achieve those goals.
With our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction, AccuTech Communications is your go-to partner for all your data center needs. Whether you’re looking to optimize your current setup or build a new one from scratch, we’re here to provide the expertise and support you need.
Ready to take the next step? Learn more about our data center build-out services and see how we can help you manage your data center infrastructure with ease.
Your data center is the backbone of your business. Let us help you make it stronger and more efficient.
Author
Ian SmalleySenior Editorial Strategist
A data center is a physical room, building or facility that houses IT infrastructure for building, running and delivering applications and services. It also stores and manages the data associated with those applications and services.
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Data centers started out as privately owned, tightly controlled on-premises facilities housing traditional IT infrastructure for the exclusive use of one company. Recently, they've evolved into remote facilities or networks of facilities owned by cloud service providers (CSPs). These CSP data centers house virtualized IT infrastructure for the shared use of multiple companies and customers.
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Data centers date back to the s. The US military's Electrical Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), completed in at the University of Pennsylvania, is an early example of a data center that required dedicated space to house its massive machines.
Over the years, computers became more size-efficient, requiring less physical space. In the s, microcomputers came on the scene, drastically reducing the amount of space needed for IT operations. These microcomputers that began filling old mainframe computer rooms became known as “servers,” and the rooms became known as “data centers.”
The advent of cloud computing in the early s significantly disrupted the traditional data center landscape. Cloud services allow organizations to access computing resources on-demand, over the internet, with pay-per-use pricing—enabling the flexibility to scale up or down as needed.
In , Google launched the first hyperscale data center in The Dalles, Oregon. This hyperscale facility currently occupies 1.3 million square feet of space and employs a staff of approximately 200 data center operators.1
A study from McKinsey & Company projects the industry to grow at 10% a year through , with global spending on the construction of new facilities reaching USD49 billion.2
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There are different types of data center facilities, and a single company might use more than one type, depending on workloads and business needs.
This data center model hosts all IT infrastructure and data on-premises. Many companies choose on-premises data centers. They have more control over information security and can more easily comply with regulations such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The company is responsible for all deployment, monitoring and management tasks in an enterprise data center.
Cloud data centers (also called cloud computing data centers) house IT infrastructure resources for shared use by multiple customers—from scores to millions—through an internet connection.
Many of the largest cloud data centers—called hyperscale data centers—are run by major cloud service providers (CSPs), such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform, IBM Cloud and Microsoft Azure. These companies have major data centers in every region of the world. For example, IBM operates over 60 IBM Cloud Data Centers in various locations around the world.
Hyperscale data centers are larger than traditional data centers and can cover millions of square feet. They typically contain at least 5,000 servers and miles of connection equipment, and they can sometimes be as large as 60,000 square feet.
Cloud service providers typically maintain smaller, edge data centers (EDCs) located closer to cloud customers (and cloud customers’ customers). Edge data centers form the foundation for edge computing, a distributed computing framework that brings applications closer to end users. Edge data centers are ideal for real-time, data-intensive workloads like big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and content delivery. They help minimize latency, improving overall application performance and customer experience.
Managed data centers and colocation facilities are options for organizations that lack the space, staff or expertise to manage their IT infrastructure on-premises. These options are ideal for those who prefer not to host their infrastructure by using the shared resources of a public cloud data center.
In a managed data center, the client company leases dedicated servers, storage and networking hardware from the provider, and the provider handles the client company's administration, monitoring and management.
In a colocation facility, the client company owns all the infrastructure and leases a dedicated space to host it within the facility. In the traditional colocation model, the client company has sole access to the hardware and full responsibility for managing it. This model is ideal for privacy and security but often impractical, particularly during outages or emergencies. Today, most colocation providers offer management and monitoring services to clients who want them.
Companies often choose managed data centers and colocation facilities to house remote data backup and disaster recovery (DR) technology for small and midsized businesses (SMBs).
Most modern data centers, including in-house on-premises ones, have evolved from the traditional IT architecture. Instead of running each application or workload on dedicated hardware, they now use a cloud architecture where physical resources such as CPUs, storage and networking are virtualized. Virtualization enables these resources to be abstracted from their physical limits and pooled into capacity that can be allocated across multiple applications and workloads in whatever quantities they require.
Virtualization also enables software-defined infrastructure (SDI)—infrastructure that can be provisioned, configured, run, maintained and "spun down" programmatically without human intervention.
This virtualization has led to new data center architectures such as software-defined data centers (SDDC), a server management concept that virtualizes infrastructure elements such as networking, storage and compute, delivering them as a service. This capability allows organizations to optimize infrastructure for each application and workload without making physical changes, which can help improve performance and control costs. As-a-service data center models are poised to become more prevalent, with IDC forecasting that 65% of tech buyers will prioritize these models by .3
The combination of cloud architecture and SDI offers many advantages to data centers and their users, such as:
Virtualization enables companies or clouds to optimize their resources and serve the most users with the least amount of hardware and with the least unused or idle capacity.
Rapid deployment of applications and servicesSDI automation makes provisioning new infrastructure as easy as making a request through a self-service portal.
ScalabilityVirtualized IT infrastructure is far easier to scale than traditional IT infrastructure. Even companies that use on-premises data centers can add capacity on demand by bursting workloads to the cloud when necessary.
Variety of services and data center solutionsCompanies and clouds can offer users a range of ways to consume and deliver IT, all from the same infrastructure. Choices are made based on workload demands and include infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS) and more. CSPs offer these services for use in a private on-premises data center or as cloud solutions in either a private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud or multicloud environment.
Other data solutions include modular data centers—pre-engineered facilities designed for use as data centers that are also pre-piped and equipped with necessary cooling equipment.
Cloud-native developmentContainerization and serverless computing, along with a robust open source ecosystem, enable and accelerate DevOps cycles and application modernization, and they enable develop-once-deploy-anywhere apps.
Servers are powerful computers that deliver applications, services and data to end-user devices. Data center servers come in several form factors:
The choice of server form factor depends on many factors, including available space in the data center, the workloads running on the servers, the available power and cost.
Most servers include some local storage capability—direct-attached storage (DAS)—to enable the most frequently used data (hot data) to remain close to the CPU.
Two other data center storage configurations include network attached storage (NAS) and a storage area network (SAN).
NAS provides data storage and data access to multiple servers over a standard Ethernet connection. The NAS device is usually a dedicated server with various storage media such as hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid-state drives (SSDs)
Like NAS, a SAN enables shared storage, but it uses a separate network for the data and involves a more complex mix of multiple storage servers, application servers and storage management software.
A single data center might use all three storage configurations—DAS, NAS and SAN—and file storage, block storage and object storage types.
Data center network topology refers to the physical layout and interconnection of a data center's network devices, including infrastructure, connections between servers and components, and data flow.
The data center network consists of various network equipment, such as switches, routers and fiber optics that network traffic across the servers (called east/west traffic) and to or from the servers to the clients (called north/south traffic).
As noted above, a data center typically has virtualized network services. This capability enables the creation of software-defined overlay networks, built on top of the network's physical infrastructure, to accommodate specific security controls or service level agreements (SLAs).
Data centers need high-bandwidth connections to allow for communications between servers and storage systems and between inbound and outbound network traffic. For hyperscale data centers, bandwidth requirements can range from several gigabits per second (Gbps) to terabits per second (Tbps).
Data centers need to be always-on at every level. Most servers feature dual power supplies. Battery-powered uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) protect against power surges and brief power outages. Powerful generators can take effect if a more severe power outage occurs.
Cable management is an important data center design concern, as various cables connect thousands of servers. If cable wires are too near to each other, they can cause cross-talk, which can negatively impact data transfer rates and signal transmission. Also, if too many cables are packed together, they can generate excessive heat. Data center construction and expansion must consider building codes and industry standards to ensure efficient and safe cabling.
Data center downtime is costly to data center providers and to their customers. Data center operators and architects go to great lengths to increase the resiliency of their systems. These measures include redundant arrays of independent disks (RAIDs) to protect against data loss or corruption in the case of storage media failure. Other measures include backup data center cooling infrastructure that keeps servers running at optimal temperatures, even if the primary cooling system fails.
Many large data center providers have data centers located in geographically distinct regions. If a natural disaster or political disruption occurs in one region, operations can fail over to a different region for uninterrupted services.
The Uptime Institute uses a four-tier system to rate the redundancy and resiliency of data centers.4
Data centers are designed and equipped to control interrelated environmental factors that can damage or destroy hardware and lead to expensive or catastrophic downtime.
Data center management encompasses the tasks and tools organizations need to keep their private data centers operational, secure and compliant. The person responsible for carrying out these tasks is known as a data center manager.
A data center manager performs general maintenance, such as software and hardware upgrades, general cleaning or deciding the physical arrangement of servers. They also take proactive or reactive measures against any threat or event that harms the data center.
Data center managers in the enterprise can use data center infrastructure management (DCIM) solutions to simplify overall management and achieve IT performance optimization. These software solutions provide a centralized platform for data center managers to monitor, measure, manage and control all data center elements in real time. This includes everything from on-premises IT components to facilities such as heating, cooling and lighting.
Sustainability in business is a crucial part of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. Gartner notes that 87% of business leaders plan to invest more in sustainability in the coming years.5 To that end, reducing the environmental impact of data centers aligns with broader business goals in the global effort to combat climate change.
Today’s proliferation of AI-driven workloads is driving data center growth. Goldman Sachs Research estimates that data center power demand will grow 160% by .5
The need to reduce power usage is driving enterprise organizations to push for renewable energy solutions to power their hyperscale data centers. This occurrence has led to the growth in green data centers, or sustainable data centers, facilities that house IT infrastructure and use energy-efficient technologies to optimize energy use and minimize environmental impact.
By embracing technologies such as virtualization, energy-efficient hardware and renewable energy sources in data centers, organizations can optimize energy use, reduce waste and save money. Certifications play a pivotal role in recognizing and promoting sustainable practices within data centers. Notable certifications and associations include Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Energy Star and the Green Grid.
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